uncombable
1
8.8
Hair or fibers that are very hard to comb
- adjective
- /ʌnˈkoʊməbəl/
:
inpeinable
- Despite using conditioner, his hair remained uncombable after the stormy weather.
Examples
-
After a long day at the beach, her hair was so uncombable that she had to put it in a bun.
-
The child's uncombable hair was a result of playing outside in the wind all afternoon.
-
His shock of dark hair looked even more aroused and uncombable than usual.
Fiction book (1998)
How Manageable
Surface Forms
uncombable positive
Morphology
uncombable = combable (transparent) = un + comb + able
Formed by applying productive negation 'un-' to 'combable' (comb + -able); the meaning 'not able to be combed' is directly deducible.
Etymology
Uncombable breaks into un- 'not', comb 'to brush or make hair smooth', and -able 'able to'. So uncombable means 'not able to be combed', which is why we use it for hair or fibers that cannot be made neat.